Soccer – Austria Wien hopes for a surprise against Salzburg
“I’m hoping for a top game for my team. I think it’s a wonderful task for our squad to play against a Champions League team. Everyone can play against the best in the league,” said Austria coach Schmid. Despite the defeat of the “Bulls” at VfL Wolfsburg, he “definitely does not expect a battered opponent. The squad is huge, they can be in any position without any loss of performance.”
The first leg of the season gives Austria courage, which Salzburg won on August 8th at home with an Adeyemi goal in the 72nd minute. Schmid tried it with a five-man chain and an additional defensive block in front of it against the ball, which is now the system of choice for most coaches against the Bundesliga Croesus. “Our plan was really good, we implemented it well. What we need, however, is certainly a mix of efficiency and perhaps making one or more mistakes,” said Schmid, who can fall back on Lukas Mühl.
“Of course, the disappointment was great right after the game in Wolfsburg. Anything else would be strange. But that’s nothing that will upset us, I’m sure. We will now do everything we can to expand our series in the league and get one again To get three. The time between the two should be enough that we are physically and mentally ready for Austria Wien, “said coach Matthias Jaissle before the drive in the capital. Salzburg have been unbeaten in nine Bundesliga games against Austria (eight wins, one draw). In the first 13 games of the current season, Salzburg remained undefeated. Maximilian Wöber (ankle) and Benjamin Sesko (thigh) are questionable at Salzburg.
After the sense of achievement near Salzburg, however, Ried travels to Admira with a broad chest. “We definitely want to get three points,” said central defender Markus Lackner. The last league win so far was on August 29th. It was therefore clear to Ried coach Christian Heinle that his team was now expecting “a completely different match”. “We will have longer periods of ball possession, it will be a more balanced game. We must not give each other a meter. With more possession we will stand apart, so we have to be wide awake,” said Heinle.
Both teams hold at 14 points each, for Admira it is the start of a really “crisp” year-end spurt. After Ried, Admira will face Salzburg (away), WAC (h), Sturm Graz (a) and Rapid (h) and thus four of the current top five. “We only got one point from the last two games,” said Admira coach Andreas Herzog. “That’s why we want to write in full again now.”
Coming back to Austria Klagenfurt, of course, not an easy walk to TSV Hartberg, who recently scored eight points from four games and climbed to fourth place. Seventh-placed Austria is only two points short of Styrians. Coach Peter Pacult complained about two “stolen points” after the recent 3: 3 at home against Admira, a controversial penalty decision had deprived the guests of their fourth win of the season. Nonetheless, Pacult was happy that his team was able to write again: “We’ll also take the little grains with us.”
In Hartberg there can be many larger specimens again, and the Carinthians do not want to lose touch with the upper half of the table. “The results so far have been okay, we’re doing pretty well. But now comes the hot phase, now when we have to score points in order to stay tuned,” demanded goalkeeper Phillip Menzel. From the point of view of Hartberg coach Kurt Russ “nothing stands in the way of further success”, as Pacult’s former team-mate emphasizes at FC Tirol and in the national team. He warned of a “strong opponent who plays very aggressively, can switch well and when we have to watch out. It’s a tough game, but we really want to get three points.”
In August, the two teams delivered a peat festival, Klagenfurt left the pitch in the Wörthersee Stadium as a 4: 3 winner. “We lost the first leg with bad luck, missed a penalty in stoppage time. We have learned from the mistakes and will definitely perform differently than we did then. We know that it will be difficult, but the team are in a very good mood at the moment.” said Russ.